first folding saw?
- Thread starter philipb
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How good are your carpentry skills?
Reason I ask is that making a folding bucksaw is extremely simple.
If you can measure and cut wood with a saw then you can easily make one yourself from some ready planed timber that you can buy from your local DIY store along with the blade to fit it and there's lots of videos on youtube to show you how to do it
How good are your carpentry skills?
Reason I ask is that making a folding bucksaw is extremely simple.
If you can measure and cut wood with a saw then you can easily make one yourself from some ready planed timber that you can buy from your local DIY store along with the blade to fit it and there's lots of videos on youtube to show you how to do it
nice idea and maybe a good future project but im guessing I am looking for something ready to use
looking around I guess I wont go to far wrong with a Bahco Laplander?
Laplanders are brilliant workhorses. Reliable and forgiving and long lasting. Worth every penny.
The 2.99 knock offs in Lidl's/Aldi's and the like are okay but not a patch on the laplanders.
There's usually someone doing a deal on them too.
Silkie's get a really good rep, but they're expensive, and I know too many folks who've broken them. The laplander just straightens out again
M
The 2.99 knock offs in Lidl's/Aldi's and the like are okay but not a patch on the laplanders.
There's usually someone doing a deal on them too.
Silkie's get a really good rep, but they're expensive, and I know too many folks who've broken them. The laplander just straightens out again
M
Can get Laplanders paired with a mora clipper style knife... possibly a good deal, though not as much as end of last year when they were sub £20 on Amazon.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/bahco-laplander-folding-pruning-saw-with-mora-knife-100953
http://www.axminster.co.uk/bahco-laplander-folding-pruning-saw-with-mora-knife-100953
Get the Silky larger Pocketboy 170 or Gomboy 270 or 300. Sure they are a good bit more money but worth it. The longer the better, small ones are for occasional work.
People like the Laplander or Bacho but in truth its not very efficient. Many of those who like it have never used a saw much. A Silky is a far superior tool altogether, and when used correctly is effortless. Trouble is everyone thinks that racing is a good method and duel direction must be better, so they all saw as fast as they can! A saw should be worked at the speed the teeth cut and no faster. Regularly clear the teeth. Done well it will zip through, which is what a Silky does in heaps.
Bushcrafters love the Laplander as its almost a badge of honour. Well I've had a few and doesn't get my vote (I've relegated mine to plaster board use only).
For bushcraft the only reason for sawing firewood is so it can be carried, or dragged. A couple of other nice jobs is to tidy up poles and to cut the odd piece of wood to make things out of. The longer the blade the bigger the piece that can be tackled, but anything too big can't be moved, so a saw only needs to be so big.
Everyone gets frustrated with a poor saw blade. Poor setup and technique adds to the grief. Set up a Silky correctly, take your time and job done. If you a sweating after sawing then you are doing it wrong.
A bow saw with scandinavian blade will out do almost all folding saws and are pretty inexpensive; they don't weigh much either.
People like the Laplander or Bacho but in truth its not very efficient. Many of those who like it have never used a saw much. A Silky is a far superior tool altogether, and when used correctly is effortless. Trouble is everyone thinks that racing is a good method and duel direction must be better, so they all saw as fast as they can! A saw should be worked at the speed the teeth cut and no faster. Regularly clear the teeth. Done well it will zip through, which is what a Silky does in heaps.
Bushcrafters love the Laplander as its almost a badge of honour. Well I've had a few and doesn't get my vote (I've relegated mine to plaster board use only).
For bushcraft the only reason for sawing firewood is so it can be carried, or dragged. A couple of other nice jobs is to tidy up poles and to cut the odd piece of wood to make things out of. The longer the blade the bigger the piece that can be tackled, but anything too big can't be moved, so a saw only needs to be so big.
Everyone gets frustrated with a poor saw blade. Poor setup and technique adds to the grief. Set up a Silky correctly, take your time and job done. If you a sweating after sawing then you are doing it wrong.
A bow saw with scandinavian blade will out do almost all folding saws and are pretty inexpensive; they don't weigh much either.
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The bacho laplanders are definitely worth it and you will likely never need to upgrade unless you need to get a larger bucksaw.
Keep an eye on amazon as they often come up with good discounts. If you are very new to bushcraft you can usually get good deals on mora companion, bacho laplander combos.
Keep an eye on amazon as they often come up with good discounts. If you are very new to bushcraft you can usually get good deals on mora companion, bacho laplander combos.
I did not see this post until after I had put in an order for the Laplander. But many do seem happy with the Laplander and for the occasional use I will give it I did not want to spend more than £20. if I find I do use it often I may upgrade later but we will have to see how things go
The Silky is a great saw and well worth the price; but most people that partake of our hobby just don't need that level of tool. The Laplander is a bushcraft perrenial for a very good reason, it's simple, very robust and does the job that most of us need very well indeed. I have Silky saws but I wouldn't dream of taking them out to process firewood for camping, the Bahco is the perfect tool for this and I don't mind lending it to those who wish to learn to use a saw; and it's not the end of the world if it's lost or broken, although I've not ever broken one nor seen anyone else break one.
Taking a Silky camping seems to me like using a Jag to go green laneing!
Taking a Silky camping seems to me like using a Jag to go green laneing!
Laplanders, although perhaps not the best cutters are properly tough and as already said, very forgiving. Which for me at least makes them a more versatile tooI, e.g I was cutting hawthorn roots out with mine today to put a post in, right in through the soil and stones. I wonder how much of that behaviour a super lightsaber silky would put up with before it went ping.
As said its a hobby. Silky Saws probably go in the Titanium pot category. It makes me smile that there are some that are determined to make out a Laplander is a better saw than a Silky and that a Silky has to be pampered because its got a higher ticket price. Its a tool for the use of.
Laplanders are fine but for me a Silky far superior. For cutting give me a Silky every time over a Laplander. A good bow saw is cheaper and better than both.
For hawthorn roots I use a digger, once I can't be arsed with a spade. More than one post hole then its an auger on the back of a tractor.
I have a Gerber Laplander type in the back of the car; been there for years. Happy to have it there, next to the Gerber entrenching tool.
Laplanders are fine but for me a Silky far superior. For cutting give me a Silky every time over a Laplander. A good bow saw is cheaper and better than both.
For hawthorn roots I use a digger, once I can't be arsed with a spade. More than one post hole then its an auger on the back of a tractor.
I have a Gerber Laplander type in the back of the car; been there for years. Happy to have it there, next to the Gerber entrenching tool.
Just to add my 2p worth and agree with those who have suggested a bow saw.
Weight wise I dont think there is a lot in it, though they are a bit bulkier, still strap to the outside of your pack and it is no biggie.
Replacement blades for a bow saw are a couple of quid, buying a new Silky might set you back a little more.
Tant
Weight wise I dont think there is a lot in it, though they are a bit bulkier, still strap to the outside of your pack and it is no biggie.
Replacement blades for a bow saw are a couple of quid, buying a new Silky might set you back a little more.
Tant
Yeah they do but mainly because you can attach them to a ten foot pole and it saves you climbing the tree to use a bow saw.
If you are having to hunt that high up for firewood you are camping in the wrong spot
so did my co-workers in japan (==forestry workers): in addition to their chainsaws everyone had a nata and a fixed-blade saw on their belt and you may guess which brand....
maybe I'm the only one but for anything larger then pocketboy I prefer a fixed-blade pruning saw (270mm medium teeth gomtaro to be exactly)
My laplander has had a heck of a lot of use over the years, and it's still a blooming good cutting tool. Took down two six inch thick cherry trees two months ago, no fuss, no bother.
The silky is fragile, it snaps if it jams, or even if the branch just moves very slightly, the laplander doesn't. I know of a lot of broken silky's but I don't think I've ever seen a broken laplander. Mine just gets a wipe with WD40 and that's pretty much all of the maintainance that it every gets. I bought a spare, for when it got blunt, and it's been sitting as the spare, and unused, for several years now…and that's despite the fact that mine is well used. Four or five years ago a friend borrowed it; she's not the most careful tool user around, and the blade bent very slightly, in a gentle curve. I simply straightened it again until it fitted easily back into the slot in the handle, and you wouldn't know that it had ever been not straight. Not many effective saws you can do that with. You certainly couldn't with the silky. It's like the Buck knives, very sharp, saws with a fine, accurate kerf, but that sharpness comes with an inbuilt 'chip/snap' issue…..and they can't be sharpened with a hand file (it even says so on Silky's website instructions for using their saws...http://www.silkysaws.com/Usage-Instructions
I agree that the bowsaw is a brilliant bit of kit, but the laplander fits into a jacket pocket, or a response pack or my foraging bag it's handy, it's useful, it's reliable and it's sturdy, and it's not expensive. It cuts quickly, cleanly, and without great effort.
All good reasons to recommend it to bushcrafters and other outdoors folks.
M
The silky is fragile, it snaps if it jams, or even if the branch just moves very slightly, the laplander doesn't. I know of a lot of broken silky's but I don't think I've ever seen a broken laplander. Mine just gets a wipe with WD40 and that's pretty much all of the maintainance that it every gets. I bought a spare, for when it got blunt, and it's been sitting as the spare, and unused, for several years now…and that's despite the fact that mine is well used. Four or five years ago a friend borrowed it; she's not the most careful tool user around, and the blade bent very slightly, in a gentle curve. I simply straightened it again until it fitted easily back into the slot in the handle, and you wouldn't know that it had ever been not straight. Not many effective saws you can do that with. You certainly couldn't with the silky. It's like the Buck knives, very sharp, saws with a fine, accurate kerf, but that sharpness comes with an inbuilt 'chip/snap' issue…..and they can't be sharpened with a hand file (it even says so on Silky's website instructions for using their saws...http://www.silkysaws.com/Usage-Instructions
I agree that the bowsaw is a brilliant bit of kit, but the laplander fits into a jacket pocket, or a response pack or my foraging bag
it's handy, it's useful, it's reliable and it's sturdy, and it's not expensive. It cuts quickly, cleanly, and without great effort.All good reasons to recommend it to bushcrafters and other outdoors folks.
M
